How Not to Summon an Isekai Anime

It’s fun to look back at the past “booms” that have come and gone in anime. The Western Classics period of the 70s, when great works of literature like Heidi Girl of the Alps or A Dog of Flanders were made. (One of the tragedies of anime was that Miyazaki never got to do the Pippi Longstockings anime he wanted to make.) Then came the Golden Age of Transforming Mecha, the 2D Idol Era, and the Heisei Imouto Bubble. One genre that exploded a few years back was isekai (“normal Japanese character transported to an alternate fantasy world for some reason”), like the new Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu (“The Demon Lord From Another World and the Slave Magic of the Summoning Girls”), official English title How Not to Summon a Demon Lord.

In a popular MMORPG called Cross Reverie, a narcissistic NEET named Takuma has built an incredibly powerful maou (demon lord) character named Diablo, and he loves destroying newbie players who dare enter the game as couples because love has no place in the game. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself transported into the game itself, summoned by two extremely cute mages, a busty elf named Shera L. Greenwood and a snarky catgirl with the totally original name of Rem.

It’s a fun show similar to Overlord, Is It Wrong to Pick Girls in a Dungeon?, and of course Re:Zero. It deconstructs the RPG genre in the usual way, with characters aware of the mechanics of their own game universe, e.g. how their own combat stats work, how many experience points are needed until the next level up point, and how to get the best side quests from the guild. It doesn’t break that much new ground, but at least the waifus are top-notch.

Should you watch How Not To Summon a Demon Lord? If you like casual isekai harem shows based on Japanese light novels, then sure. The girls are all cute, and the fan service is enjoyable without going completely overboard. So check out a few episodes and let us know how you like it!

Do you need more oppai in your life? If so, then visit J-List’s oppai mousepad page, because we posted some great new products to the site. As with the other full-sized mousepads from Softgarage, the preorder period is open only for a limited time, so if you want one, get your pre-order in soon! The mousepads are all here.

About the author

Peter Payne

I live in Japan and I run J-List, an anime shop famous for shimapan and Tentacle Grape. I love being able to bring Japanese culture to the world.